TOWN of KENNEBUNK LONG-TERM STREET LIGHT POLICIES DEFINITIONS: Built-Up Area – Vehicle Commercial Strip: Arterial Road Segmen
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Street Light Subcommittee Adopted 04/12/1994 Kennebunk Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee Amended 05/04/1999 Amended 02/17/2000 Amended 05/28/2019 TOWN OF KENNEBUNK LONG-TERM STREET LIGHT POLICIES DEFINITIONS: Built-Up Area – Vehicle Commercial Strip: Arterial road segments - Route One highway commercial segment and Route 9 from Brown Street to Boothby Road with vehicle traffic plus pedestrian and bicycle circulation concerning economic activities. Built-Up Area – Mixed-use pedestrian oriented areas: Downtown and Lower Village with significant residential and tourist pedestrian traffic; Areas of historic significance; village residential areas including residential collector roads such as Summer Street and Port Road, Alfred Road, Cat Mousam Road and High Street plus associated local roads including quiet residential neighborhoods with only local neighborhood traffic. Quiet residential areas include residential cluster subdivisions in the rural area and other residential agglomerations in which three or more houses are generally 100 feet or less apart. Downtown Area(s) – Main Street Kennebunk Village from Town Hall square to the Mousam River bridge. Western Avenue in Lower Village from the Kennebunk River bridge to Cooper's Corner and up Port Road from Cooper's Corner to Christensen Lane. Full Cut-off Fixture – Lighting fixtures with overhead and side shielding that prevents light from spilling out from the shielding above a horizontal line parallel to the ground. Full cut-off fixtures prevent seeing the lamp (light source) unless the observer is located directly below the fixture. Light Pollution – The inappropriate or excessive use of artificial light – known as light pollution – can have serious environmental consequences for humans, wildlife and our climate. Components of light pollution include: Glare – excessive brightness that causes visual discomfort; Skyglow – brightening of the night sky over inhabited areas; Clutter – bright, confusing and excessive groupings of light sources. (International Dark-sky Association [IDA] definitions) Light Trespass – light falling where it is not intended or needed (IDA definition). Control of light trespass in these Policies is achieved by positioning utility pole-mounted fixtures no higher than 25 feet above the ground and post-mounted fixtures (topmost portion) no higher than 16 feet above the ground. This helps control light spillage into second story windows of abutting residences. Lower Village Area – encompasses the Western Avenue/Port Road downtown and tourist area surrounded by the residential neighborhoods from the Kennebunk River southward around Western Avenue to Brown Street and from the Port Road from the Gooch's Creek bridge westward to Christensen Lane. Night Sky (preservation of) – control of sky glow by shielding above and sideways to street light fixtures helps preserve the night sky darkness. A preserved night sky is when, on a cloudless and less than a moonless or quarter-moon nightsky, the North Star and Big Dipper can be seen by the unaided human eye. A very well preserved night sky is when the Milky Way may also be seen. Quiet Residential Neighborhoods – on streets in and around Lower Village, Kennebunk Main Street and West Kennebunk Village and in residential subdivisions in the rural parts of town in which there are clustered three or more houses less than 100 feet apart. 1 Residential Cluster Subdivisions – see definition of 'Quiet Residential Neighborhoods', which are found in both built-up areas and rural areas. Rural areas with houses more than 100 feet apart are not residential cluster subdivisions for the purpose of street lights. Security Lighting – outdoor lighting fixtures, for the purpose of making visible during nighttime, buildings, other facilities and property deemed valuable. Security lighting on private property is the responsibility of the private property owner. Urban Strips – (see definition of 'Built-Up Area – Vehicle Commercial strip') PURPOSE: The purpose of Town street lighting is to provide adequate and aesthetic lighting on public rights of way, other Town property and private subdivision roads appropriate to securing public safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. The Town should not provide street lights financed by the taxpayers on private property that serves primarily as security lighting for only one or a few private landholders. Lighting of private property is the responsibility of the private landholder. Security lighting on Town property is subject to the Outdoor Lighting Policy for Public Buildings and Parking Lots (included in this document). OBJECTIVE: The Town's street lighting shall be designed, installed and maintained to minimize as much as possible light trespass onto any private property, prevention of light pollution and strive to preserve the night sky. The Street Light Subcommittee shall be responsive to any Townsperson's concerns about light trespass. Choice for replacement or new fixtures may be LED (light emitting diode) full cut-off design (aka recessed down lights), installed to meet regulatory and manufacturers' standards with regard to elevation. Within the manufacturer's standards, all luminaires on utility poles shall be placed no higher than 25 feet above the ground or as low as possible on the pole consistent with applicable safety and other regulations in order to help minimize light trespass. Use lighting that creates uniformity as much as possible that minimizes contrast between light and dark spots. Luminaire pitch and design shall be adjusted to minimize light incursion onto private property on both sides of the street while providing maximum illumination for walks and roadways. Use fixtures that control the illumination on the ground by Type II shielding that spreads light parallel to the street along the shoulder or sidewalk. All fixtures may be installed on a maximum center density in highly built-up areas on every other utility pole unless an alternative is specifically approved, for safety reasons, by the Street Light Subcommittee. In low density or rural areas location of street lights are subject to the Committee's considered application of these policies (see 'Rural Areas' ). (Note: the Street Light Subcommittee and the Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee are one and the same.) Whenever possible, intersections of Town streets in designated and mapped built-up areas, even though the "every other pole" rule may be broken, shall be provided with a fixture unless there is no pole available or conditions do not permit installation of a fixture. A map of the Town based upon the Comprehensive Plan shall be a part of these policies and shall be maintained and updated as appropriate by the Street Light Subcommittee to identify different areas as to type and intensity of luminaires that can be installed as new or replacement fixtures. The map shall delineate various areas for various lighting arrangements including for downtown, urban strips and rural cluster subdivisions. The map contains the following delineated lighting areas: Rural areas, six categories of Built-up Areas and Historic Areas. 2 Rural Areas: Generally no street lights except possibly at intersections where there is significant pedestrian-vehicle interaction on a daily basis. Rural lighting requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis for both installation and removal. Replacement of rural street lights is subject to Subcommittee approval. Built-up Areas: 1. Arterial road segments - Route One highway commercial segment and Route 9 from Brown Street to Boothby Road. 2. Areas of historic significance 3. Downtown and Lower Village 4. Village residential areas 5. Collector roads - general residential 6. Local roads - quiet residential neighborhoods with only local neighborhood traffic as special lighting areas. Quiet Residential areas include residential cluster subdivisions in the rural area and other residential agglomerations in which three or more houses are generally less than 100 feet apart. Approved Fixture Type HPS Fixtures LED Fixtures (for selection) General Residential (collector roads) 50 watt full cut-off HPS 20 watt +/- LED (Appendix A) Arterial Road Segments 100 watt full cut-off HPS 42 watt +/- LED Rt. One Highway Commercial (Appendix A) Segment; Rt. 9 from Brown St. to Boothby Road Areas of Historic Significance* 50 watt full cut-off platters 20 watt historic LED in historic areas (recessed down light) Downtown** and Lower Village 70 watt pedestrian (pole) 30 watt +/- LED with frosted glass (Appendix A) Village Residential Areas 50 watt full cut-off platters , 20 watt +/- LED full cut-off cobras (Appendix A) Quiet Residential Neighborhoods - 50 watt full cut-off platters 20 watt +/- LED with frosted shades (lens) (frosted lens) - 50 watt full cut-off cobras 20 watt +/- LED - 50 watt post fixture (recessed down light) Rural Lighting Where an installation is 20 watt +/- LED approved, fixture will be (Appendix A) a 50 watt HPS full cut-off. New subdivisions where lighting Pedestrian (post-mounted) fixtures LED full cut-off is required by Planning Board or utility pole mounted; type recessed down lighting; and intensity of fixture as post-mounted fixtures shall appropriate to the area of Town. be no higher than 16 feet. (residential: 50 watt HPS) (residential: 20 watt LED +/-) (See Appendix B) * Designated historic areas - historic platter fixtures should be maintained as long as possible. If change-out were to become necessary, the Town should find similar LED recessed platter fixtures. ** Main Street,